Bitcoin is a Startup

Bitcoin has been called many flattering and less-than-flattering things; but to me, Bitcoin is essentially a startup – a wonderfully fascinating, exciting, crowdsourced, decentralized, risky startup. Bitcoin’s developers and entrepreneurs are its founders, its users are its evangelists, and its exchange rate is its stock price. People invest their time and money into Bitcoin in the hopes of changing the world, or merely for financial gain. Bitcoin faces competition from existing banking systems and regulation from governments that would make most entrepreneurs curl up and cry. Since there is a finite supply of bitcoins, the exchange rate is effectively its stock price. As demand increases due to more users or increased speculation, the price increases. If demand drops or a piece of discouraging news is released, the price drops. This isn’t necessarily a good thing. Imagine...